Our “March that is Mad” tournament is live! 15 books enter, one gets to be the April pick, and everyone wins! Plus, please stop flooding Clarkesworld with AI-written manuscripts. Use ChatGPT for good! Also, we kick off our March read and wrap up our thoughts on Nettle & Bone.
#455 – When Life Gives You Bones, Make a Bone Dog
Three Body Problem is coming to two platforms, so many beginning-of-the-year reading lists, and why we all love Bonedog (even Tom).
#454 – Baltimore, City of Baltars
We may be getting some Zelazny TV, Murderbot is coming back, some ideas of non-fiction book picks we could try, and we kick off our February book pick, Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher.
#453 – And That’s How the News Goes
We check in on how everyone is feeling about Brightness Falls From the Air. We also feel mildly optimistic about Apple’s digital narrators, and we discuss the best way to introduce someone to a series.
#452 – Having Feelpinions
A very tense episode as Veronica and Tom violently agree about Elric of Melniboné. Plus, the most anticipated books of 2023, and how to take advantage of Novelist at your local library.
#451 – When Your Anti-Hero Gets a Little Too Anti
We properly credit the amazing Nancy Pearl and her four doorways into stories. And we want yours! Send them to feedback@swordandlaser.com. Plus our mid-read takes on Moorcock’s Elric of Melniboné. Also, we break the news about Henry Cavill to Veronica live on the show.
#450 – Where the Wild Nerds Are
We wrap up our thoughts on Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty and Tom tries out his 4-part way of evaluating books to explain why people enjoyed it differently. Plus we kick off our December pick, Elric of Melniboné, encourage you to save Locus Magazine and Veronica is IMPRESSIVE at reading author names now.
#449 – Finding a Leggy Blonde
Veronica forgets what beer she had. Must be a good beer. It was a blonde in a tall can. A leggy blonde perhaps? Also, we have the World Fantasy Award winner AND the SPFBO finalists! Plus our non-spoilery first impressions of Mur Lafferty’s Six Wakes.
#448 – The Reverse Heisenberg
Veronica is very concerned about the Witcher news. Also on this episode: we have some prize winners to increase your to-read list. We pick a tentative fan name for y’all. We kick off our November read, Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty, AND our final thoughts on The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri. Also, Veronica might have Crow-vid.
#447 – Sword and Lazy
It’s our 15th anniversary! And we celebrated by making puns, discussing our favorite wearable fantasy and sci-fi weapons, and finding rumors about our hometowns. We also check in on our read of The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri.